Hoyts announces streaming service

Hoyts will launch a streaming service to be available in the first quarter of 2013. Hoyts Stream will offer consumers pay-as-you-go new release films on the same day as DVD releases. Classic films and TV content is expected to follow.The announcement:

Today, Australia’s oldest and one of the most-loved cinema brands, Hoyts, announced it will embrace the evolving world of filmed entertainment by launching Hoyts Stream in the first quarter of 2013.

With Hoyts Stream, the Hoyts Corporation intends to create a market leading digital movie streaming business, which leverages and integrates with Hoyts’ existing assets. Hoyts Stream will utilise an Internet driven streaming platform, which will support multi-device access and offer consumers a pay-as-you-go model for New Release as well as Classic Movies and TV content. An all-you-can eat subscription model, specifically for Movie & TV Classics, will follow later in 2013. New Release content on the Hoyts Stream Service will release day & date with current DVD windows.

Hoyts believes that the proliferation of tablets, other mobile devices and smart televisions, coupled with ubiquitous broadband, will enable it to access consumers directly, leveraging its content relationships, bundling/rewards opportunities, and brand.

Hoyts’ established customer relationships are key to the business’ projected success. Hoyts Cinemas enjoy over 18 Million admissions per year with the Hoyts Rewards loyalty program & the Hoyts Insider Club having a combined 547,000 members. Oovie, Hoyts’ DVD Rental Kiosk business, has had over 730,000 people frequent the service since inception and currently maintains 200,000 active customers. No one to date in Australia has leveraged movie streaming with the Cinema and DVD rental windows and customer relationships. As Australia’s only national single-brand cinema footprint, with DVD Kiosks that have 498 Million shoppers passing them annually and with existing large movie-loving consumer databases, Hoyts believes they are well placed to become a market leader in the space.

The Hoyts Corporation Chairman David Kirk says, “Australians are growing more and more demanding in how they want their movie experience delivered. The convergence of entertainment and technology is exciting & has inspired us to harness digital platforms so as to provide our customers choice for how they consume filmed entertainment from Hoyts, be it on the big screen, small screen or now any screen”.

With the addition of Hoyts Stream, the Hoyts Corporation’s consumer offerings will now form three distinct divisions: Cinema, Kiosk and Stream. Hoyts’ highly successful DVD rental kiosk division Oovie, will undergo a re-brand as part of the new direction. Commencing in October with completion in December 2012, the kiosks will be re-branded as Hoyts Kiosk, to sit within the newly branded Hoyts business. Additional changes will see the Hoyts Rewards loyalty program, currently only open to Hoyts Cinema patrons, commence including Hoyts Stream & Hoyts Kiosk, allowing customers to be rewarded for any interaction they have with the filmed entertainment business.

“We have spent considerable time and investment to ensure we have the right staff & infrastructure in place to support our growth across both Exhibition and Home Entertainment.” says Kirk. “It is an exciting time for us as a business as we evolve and embrace the change required to ensure we maintain our place and strength in the market.”

When I first saw the title, I was thinking it was still-in-theater movies being streamed, which led me to dream of current-release movies being available as a PPV option in your own house. I know that would get me on board for seeing movies again.